Malmedy

The worst atrocity against US Troops committed during the war occurred at Baugnez near Malmedy. Lightly armed American infantrymen capitulated to an SS Panzer division under Joachim Peiper, on the 17th December and were herded into a field and machine gunned, bludgeoned and otherwise shot to death. Several American whiteness's survived the massacre and their account was confirmed by autopsies showed numerous powder-burns to head-wounds and blunt trauma injuries to the skulls of the slain, commensurate with an SS killing spree. This incident was not unique-the German unit was responsible for at least three similar incidents that day. The Germans continued to shell the field after withdrawing to higher ground, mangling the remains of the slain, preventing the mortuary team from Graves Registration processing the bodies when the field was recaptured on January 13th 1945. A memorial marks the site of the massacre.